Tacos de Longaniza de Valladolid

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Meat grinder with coarse plate, or a butcher who will coarse-grind for you
• •Sausage stuffer or stuffing attachment (optional, for casings)
• •Heavy cast iron comal or 12-inch skillet
• •Volcanic stone molcajete for the chiltomate
• •Stovetop smoker with hardwood chips (optional but traditional)

Instructions

1. 1

   Build the recado paste

   In a blender, combine the recado rojo, white vinegar, naranja agria juice, the six peeled garlic cloves, oregano, allspice, black pepper, cumin, cloves, and salt. Blend until completely smooth. This is the marinade and the seasoning at the same time. The achiote gives the longaniza its rust-red color and the vinegar is what separates Valladolid longaniza from chorizo. No me vengas con atajos. Use real recado rojo, not a powder labeled 'achiote seasoning.'

   Look for recado rojo in blocks wrapped in plastic at a Mexican market. The Yucatecan brands El Yucateco and La Anita are reliable. If the paste is dry, loosen it with a spoonful of the vinegar before blending.
2. 2

   Grind the pork

   Spread the pork shoulder and pork belly on a sheet pan and freeze for 20 minutes. Cold meat grinds cleanly. Warm meat smears the fat into the lean and you lose the texture. Pass the cold pork through the coarse plate of a meat grinder once. Do not over-grind. Longaniza has texture. It is not a paste.

3. 3

   Marinate overnight

   In a large bowl, combine the ground pork with the recado paste. Mix with your hands until every piece of meat is stained red. Cover and refrigerate at least 12 hours, preferably 24. The vinegar and achiote need that time to penetrate the meat and cure it slightly. This is not optional. A longaniza marinated for two hours tastes like seasoned pork. A longaniza marinated overnight tastes like Valladolid.

4. 4

   Stuff the casings (or skip them)

   If you are stuffing casings, fit a sausage stuffer or grinder attachment with the soaked hog casings and pack the meat in firmly, twisting into 6-inch links every foot or so. Hang to dry in a cool place for 4 to 6 hours, or refrigerate uncovered overnight, so the surface dries slightly. In Valladolid, the longaniza is then smoked over hardwood for hours, which is the signature of the region. At home, a stovetop smoker with oak or mesquite chips for 30 minutes at low heat gives you the closest result. If you have no smoker and no casings, skip ahead. Loose longaniza, cooked hard on a comal, still tastes like Valladolid.

   If you cannot smoke the sausage, add 1/4 teaspoon of smoked Spanish paprika to the recado blend in step 1. It is a compromise, not an upgrade, but it carries the memory of the smoke.
5. 5

   Make the pickled red onion

   Place the sliced red onion in a bowl. Cover with boiling water for 10 seconds, then drain. This takes the raw bite out. Return to the bowl with the naranja agria juice, salt, and oregano. Press the onions down so the liquid covers them. Let sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. They turn a deep magenta as the acid works. Cebolla morada is not a garnish. On a Yucatecan plate, it is part of the dish. Cada estado, su propia cocina.

6. 6

   Char the chiltomate

   Heat a dry comal or heavy skillet over medium-high. Place the whole tomatoes, the halved unpeeled onion (cut side down first), the unpeeled garlic, and the whole habanero directly on the hot surface. Char them. The tomato skins should blister and blacken in patches. The garlic skins should turn papery and dark. The onion should soften with black spots on the cut face. Turn each as it chars. This takes about 12 to 15 minutes. Do not skip the charring. The smoky depth of chiltomate comes from the char, not from added smoke flavor.

7. 7

   Finish the chiltomate

   Slip the skins off the garlic and the onion. Leave the tomato skins on. Stem the habanero (leave seeds in for proper Yucatecan heat, remove them if you must). In a molcajete, mash the habanero and garlic with the salt into a rough paste, then add the onion and tomatoes and crush them until you have a chunky red sauce. A blender works in a hurry, pulse it, do not puree. Heat the lard in a small skillet over medium. Pour in the chiltomate. It will sputter. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring, until the sauce darkens and the fat starts to separate at the edges. Taste for salt.

8. 8

   Cook the longaniza

   Heat a heavy comal or cast iron skillet over medium-high. Add the longaniza, either whole links or loose meat. If you have links, prick them with a fork in a few places so they do not burst. Cook hard, turning often, until the outside is dark red almost black at the edges and crisped from the rendered fat. About 12 to 15 minutes for links, 8 to 10 minutes for loose meat. The fat that renders out is part of the recipe. Do not pour it off. Let the meat crisp in its own lard.

   If you stuffed casings, slice the cooked links into half-inch coins for the tacos. The cross-section shows the marbling and crisps faster on the comal.
9. 9

   Warm the tortillas

   On a second comal or after the longaniza comes off, warm the corn tortillas. Thirty seconds a side. You want them flexible and puffed in spots, not crisp. Wrap them in a cloth servilleta as they come off to keep them soft and steaming inside the cloth, not on the plate.

10. 10

    Build the taco

    On each warm tortilla, lay a generous spoonful of the crisped longaniza. Top with a spoonful of chiltomate and a tangle of pickled red onion. Serve a slice of fresh habanero alongside for the ones who know what they are doing. Eat immediately. The tortilla should soften from the chiltomate but not fall apart. Lime on the table if you want it. Así se hace y punto.

Chef Tips

• •Recado rojo is non-negotiable. The peninsular brands El Yucateco and La Anita are sold in blocks at Mexican markets across the Americas. Powder labeled 'achiote seasoning' is not the same. If you cannot find the paste, order it online before starting this recipe.
• •Naranja agria is the sour orange used across the peninsula. Real naranja agria is hard to find outside of Yucatán, Florida, and parts of California. The substitute is two parts orange juice to one part lime juice with a small splash of grapefruit juice. It is a compromise, not an upgrade.
• •Yucatecan oregano (Lippia graveolens grown in the peninsula) is more floral than the Mexican oregano you find in central Mexico. If your market has it labeled as Yucatecan, buy it. Otherwise, regular Mexican oregano works.
• •If you do not have a meat grinder, ask your butcher to coarse-grind the pork shoulder and pork belly together. Do not let them fine-grind it. Longaniza needs texture.

Advance Preparation

• •The longaniza meat must marinate at least 12 hours and is better at 24. Plan two days for the full recipe.
• •Stuffed and smoked longaniza keeps refrigerated for one week and freezes well for three months. Make a double batch and freeze the rest.
• •The chiltomate can be made up to 3 days ahead and refrigerated. The flavor deepens.
• •The pickled red onion can be made up to 5 days ahead and refrigerated. It only gets better.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 290g)